Florida Marlins vs. Atlanta Braves – Box Score – April 15, 2009 – ESPN
Yuck. Derek Lowe was horribly inefficient, throwing more than 100 pitches in five innings. He also wasn’t very effective, allowing four runs. And that meant that the bullpen would get involved, and the bullpen had another meltdown. With the Marlins leading 5-4 going to the ninth, Bobby put Boyer in, and Boyer was terrible, allowing four runs and getting only one out. Campillo came in to put out the fire, and not only allowed some of Boyer’s runners to score but added in one of his own. Right now, the effective members of the bullpen are Soriano (who had another 1-2-3 outing) and maybe Carlyle (who pitched a good sixth). Moylan, who had pitched well in his last two outings, walked in a run in the sixth to get the loss.
The Braves did have a rally in the fifth, getting three runs. It was good to see that one, actually, as after a Diaz walk Francoeur and Kotchman got hits. Getting hits from those guys is a good sign. But that was all they got, and the Marlins pretty much coasted from there. The Braves were limited to six hits; Francoeur had two of them. Chipper is on the shelf with his hand injury, and tomorrow McCann will sit because it’s the day game after a night game. It’s early, it’s early…
Send Boyer to Gwinnett. At least Moylan can deliver quality outings on an inconsistent basis. Boyer has been consistently terrible. Something is wrong with him again…
…wait, is Boyer out of option?
Boyer is out of options, but after his performance tonight, it might be worth the risk.
Wren: Dayton, you want Boyer? He can be another Davies!
In the spirit of the old “Wickmania”-type banners here, in honor of Blaine Boyer:
http://i39.tinypic.com/55sg1j.jpg
BTW, Moylan is on a pace for 100 appearances (actually, 101.5) and another visit to Birmingham.
this place is hilarious…
“We’re awesome!”
next night: “We suck!”
next week: “Yeah! Way to go Braves!”
next week: “Shit! You suck Bobby! Chipper hits like a girl!”
anyway, thanks for the good times
…and Bobby said he would be careful with moylan…
Hey David, you are funny!
From last thread:
@11,
That’s the most asinine thing I’ve ever read. These guys are playing at the highest level of the sport. If your thumb hurts, you can’t hit, period. The fact that I go to work every day has nothing to do with what a ballplayer does.
It’s way too early to get too excited or upset, but I have to say I see the same pattern that has occurred over the last few years–once it gets into the late innings, you know the Braves are going to lose, either because the bullpen sucks or the hitters are stifled or both. As I said, you can’t jump off bridges after 8 games but it sure seems familiar.
I think Moylan came back too soon from Tommy John surgery. 9.5 months is pushing it, and I can tell that he’s compensating. I just did a paper on TJ surgery and actually spoke to Frank Jobe himself about my review of literature. He warned of pitchers trying to come back prior to 10-11 months post-surgery because they think they feel good, when in actuality the ulnar collateral ligament needs that extra time (right at a year) to get just right. He said that it is bound to happen because clubs have invested in players, players want to earn that paycheck, and the team doctors aren’t as cautious as they should be in some cases. Bases loaded walks from your go-to middle reliever? How many times is that going to happen until they realize that he’s not ready?
By the time Bobby realizes it, Moylan is on his way to Birmingham as Mac said.
This sort of thing never happened when Leo was here.
No Chipper & no bullpen. A tough combo to conquer.
Not gonna go crazy yet, but this bullpen is about a week away from officially becoming a horror show.
And that Diaz AB…whew. He does have his old-school Francoeur moments.
But…Devils up 1-0 on Carolina. Not a complete disaster tonight.
Straight from the horse’s mouth — good to know, Ben. Well, not really, but you know.
ububba, you think the Devils can make it out of the east?
anyway, thanks for the good times
So to recap, David has broken the story that fans of sports teams may overreact based on the outcome of a limited number of games. Yes, it’s quite a revelation.
Check back tomorrow for his equally eye-opening followup story: “Water, surprisingly wet”
I’ll predict by about Mid-June Mac will run out of creative ways to write up these “it was close, our bullpen got involved, we lost” games and just give us an appropriate YouTube clip and a rant about whichever corner outfielder was especially dreadful.
I’ll just reintroduce the Miserable Braves Loss Type Index.
Dix,
In short, yes.
The top end of the East is tough, but not impossible. The Caps are exciting, but they play no defense. Boston looks great, but they have a buncha young guys who’ve never been there before.
Pittsburgh has terrific talent and, let’s face it, Crosby is a crybaby & he gets all the calls, but they give up tons of chances.
This Devils team, in some ways, is better than the ’03 Cup winners. As long as Elias is healthy & the second line remains scary, they’re gonna be tough. The difference this year Paul Martin on D & the breakout of Zach Parise.
Here’s to another Devils-Wings final.
Mac, just curious…is there any kind of Braves losses that is NOT miserable? I can’t think of any…there are all miserable imo.
This one was probably Miserable Braves Loss Type 2.2 (b): “Braves rally to tie it up twice, but horrible, horrible bullpen blows it yet again.”
Missed seeing the first half of the game due to planting season but it sounded like Lowe was getting squeezed early on.
And oh yeah, Boyer sucks.
Glad I missed most of it: at 4:30 am–I got up when I heard the prayer call from the local mosques and put on the Braves game–just in time to see Moylan walk in the winning run. I am just glad that I had the brains to go back to sleep….
The Braves not only have problems with the bullpen, but it looks to me like this team is seriously underpowered. The last two losses are really not that surprising.
At least we should be a lot better than last year….
Oh Robert, you’re so witty! And was that sarcasm I detected? Well done. 10 e-points for you, sir.
but back to the point: living and dying with every at-bat of every game is a sure-fire way to cut 20 years off your life. Even in a good year you lose 70 games.
Despite Kris Medlen’s efforts it was another tough night on the farm.
Brandon Hicks 13 Ks in 7 games–He is going to have to really work on plate discipline and understanding of the strike zone if he is going to continue to be a well-regarded prospect…
Lillibridge redux…
Stephen, when the team gets no production on the bottom of the order, the offense is going no where. On the other hand, four runs should be enough to win when we have our “ace” on the mount.
I never consider Hicks as a decent prospect. K rate is the number one indicator for me. That’s why I don’t have high hope on Cody Johnson.
Aaron Rowand anyone?
No.
I was thinking about the events of the last couple of days and I have come to the realization that I (and a lot of you) could run this team better than Frank Wren. It would not be hard, a trained monkey could waste money like Wren does. Unless something changes in a hurry, the 2.5 for Garrett Anderson was waste. The 1 mil or more for Tommy G was a waste. BTW, not one dime spent on the pen, where 3 guys have had arm surgery in the past 3 years, not one dime. UNBELIEVABLE!!!!! There are bank CEOs out there laughing at Wren
I don’t want to speak too harshly, but the braves are overpaying for Chipper, Lowe, and Vasquez.
When is someone going to realize that Chipper is not worth front line money when he can only play in 2/3 or less of the games. Tomorrow will be game 9 and he has missed 3 already, on top of the 34 he missed last year, so on and so worth. He needs help, and McCann, as good as he is, is not enough. Tomorrow’s lineup is going to be sad looking. Do they HAVE to give Brian the day off tomorrow??????
Lowe is WAY overpaid, which may have been the only way to get him here, but you saw tonight, he is not an ace. Aces don’t get knocked out after 5 in a big (for April it was big) game.
Don’t get me started on Vasquez, we paid to much for him. When did a 4.50 ERA count as ‘quality’? When is that ever worth 11.5 mil a year? I saw the highlights, I know he struck out 12, but the Marlins were hacking at anything. How bout locating better and getting some early count outs. Also try not throwing a WP to give up a HUGE insurance run. (Maybe I am being too hard on him, but this was the stuff that got under Ozzie Guillen’s skin in Chicago. He comes unglued at the slightest adversity.)
8 walks tonight is terrible. That is feat that may never be matched against Florida…..because they swing at EVERYTHING. I know it is early, but I am tired of every time there a game with a little bit of sizzle or pressure, the braves come apart at the seems like Wal-Mart suit.
The bullpen will not get better until they start throwing strikes. That has been the issue the last 3 years and it ain’t changing. Campillo needs to go, Boyer should be gone TONIGHT. Literally, I bet there are people on this blog right that can do better than him. I throw 70mph (or I used to, probably closer to 65 now). I bet I can do better than Boyer’s 40.50 ERA RIGHT NOW. BP pitchers don’t get hit that hard.
Moylan should have been in Gwinnett rehabbing, but since they did not sign Ohman or anyone else (because of the money wasted on Glavine and so far Anderson, he was rushed back to the bigs when he isn’t ready. It is unfair to him and unfair to us fans. I’m not ready to give up on him yet. I just feel bad for him.
Find some pitchers in Gwinnett that will throw strikes. If someone would just throw strikes and this team will be better. How hard can that be???
stupup74, if Wren doesn’t overpay, he will sit on his money with nobody. We are not the old Braves anymore where we can play cheap and a Greg Maddux will still sign with us (the Yankees offered much more, but they really sucked back then).
Yes, I don’t like the Anderson, Glavine, and Ross signings, and those $5M can buy a lot under the current market.
I think Campillo should be a starting pitcher.
Last time I check, an outing of six innings with three runs allowed qualifies as a quality start. How can you win when the offense scored one run?
“Tonight, it wasn’t like the ball wasn’t moving,” Moylan said. “The ball was sinking. I just couldn’t control it.”
“I’m not worried about Moylan at all,” Cox said. “I’ve got a lot of confidence in him.”
I love Bobby. Man, I wish Bobby is my boss.
Oh Robert, you’re so witty! And was that sarcasm I detected? Well done. 10 e-points for you, sir.
Gee thanks Dave. Taking time out of your busy day of lecturing us on what are and aren’t useful ways of thinking to give me a fake complement. You shouldn’t have. No really, you shouldn’t have
This doesn’t really make me feel any better right now:
Pitchers IP H R ER BB SO HR PC-ST ERA
M Hampton (W, 1-1) 6.0 4 0 0 1 8 0 100-65 2.45
KC–I am not giving up on Johnson or even Hicks, but at least time is on the side of the former: Cody Johnson will be 21 in August;Hicks will be 24 in September. Hicks is a great defender, but it is hard to imagine him playing alot at the major league level if he strikes out 200 times a season.
Cody Johnson, on the other hands, projects out as a Jay Buhner type of player: he will strike out 150 times, but he might in the same season hit 40-50 HRs….Hardly a superstar, but a useful player….
Stephen, I think Hicks will be a fine ML backup infielder. I agree with you on Cody, but this season’s performance can be very telling in terms of what type of player he will become. Right now, his ceiling seems to be Adam Dunn to me…with Rob Deer type of career being the most likely outcome.
Timo, I bet Hampton would be on DL right now if he is still with us, ha.
KC, it is not so much that I dislike Wren overpaying, it is the fact he overpaid so much for those 3 at the expense of not filling HUGE holes on this team, especially the bullpen. There were too many holes to fix in one offseason. I would have rather him give some kids a chance and sit on some money for some in season moves. With the economy the way it is, there will be teams shedding payroll.
I know a quality start is 3 or less Earned Runs in at least 6 innings. I just think that is a contrived stat created by agents of average starting pitchers. I do not put much stock in that stat.
Honestly stupup74, the team had HUGE HOLES everywhere heading into the last offseason. If there is one thing I like about Wren, it’s his tendancy to keep and protect prospects. But the decision to keep Schafer in Atlanta surprised me, and I am still not sure if that’s a right decision. However, you can tell the offense is much better when Schafer is hitting well. The question is whether he can be consistent.
I don’t like giving chances to kids before they are actually ready. I would rather see the kids to spend more time than needed in the minor than to rush them.
While Wren did overpay, he did improve the rotation by a wide margin over the winter. While you can complain about the 6 innings and 3 runs allowed, who was able to do that at the end of last year?
I think Wren is doing an ok job. We haven’t seen anything great from the guy yet, but at least he is not horrible like Bowden and Sebean.
This team was swiss cheese this offseason, the fact that he put together decent pitching staff is a miracle.
Overpaying is a bad term, if the only way a guy will play for you is to pay him X amount of dollars, then you did not overpay. It is what it is, we needed Lowe, that was the money it was going to take.
This team is still built for a good future, I want to win NOW, but 2010 and 2011 is probably when the rest of the team fills out. We have pieces to move this offseason (Hudson, Vazquez, Morton, Reyes..) that can shore up the OF and 3B and youth will be developing, Schafer, Heyward, Freeman.
As many of us said before, we made it through the 80’s when we KNEW we were going to lose 95+ games, this is easy.
Only knock, Ohman should have still been a Brave, no excuse there to me.
@28
Lowe is obviously not Johan Santana and neither is Vazquez. But that option wasn’t out there. It’s not like a young Greg Maddux was out there waiting for a low bid offer. Wren did what he could and, while Lowe is probably more like a high 2, he’s still better than anything else the Braves could have gotten (unless they traded the farm for Peavey). And, worrying about a “big game” in April? Are you serious? What about Lowe’s Opening Night performance against the World Champions? That doesn’t count?
As for Vazquez, again, no one is claiming he is an ace. But he had one bad inning and kept the team in the game. The quality start stat is bogus, but the fact is, you ought to win most of the time when the starter limits the other team to three runs in six innings.
The Braves have plenty of problems and the front office (and Bobby Cox) have made more than their share of mistakes on major league player evaluation. But, jumping on Lowe and Vazquez because they aren’t Maddux and Glavine in their primes makes no sense.
Getting Lowe and Vazquez was about the best we could hope for this offseason.
I didn’t think we could field a competitive team though, and didn’t want to tie up long term money, so the Lowe deal stung me a little, but I understand it and I can live with it.
We avoided the two offseason things that I saw as potential disasters:
1) trading away our high end prospects
2) tying up money to a long term deal on a past-his-prime position player
Unfortunately, we then tied up money in a long term deal on a past his prime position player one week into the season. Oh well, I just hope Chipper’s contract doesn’t become an anchor holding the team back.
I think this team is perfectly positioned with lots of young talent and not a lot of money tied up long term, so that we can quickly get the young guys signed to deals and have a very good, very young roster.
We were screwed with Chippers contract, had to do it, especially after losing Smoltz.
Glavine and Anderson should both retire, right now, and save us some cash to make moves later.
Kidding of course, kind of.
I would rather Diaz/Norton in LF then see Anderson again, that was putrid the other night.
Guys, I thought we had accepted that this was a rebuilding year? This team shouldn’t be competitive at all, we should be thankful the team is at least watchable… occasionally.
Remember when we showed no interest in Burrell, Dunn, and Abreu because of concerns about their defense?
Remember when we all got to see how Garret Anderson plays defense?
I remember how awesome that was. Especially the part where all three signed for far less money than originally expected. Double especially given that those low cost short term deals are exactly what we needed/should have wanted.
just now checking the boxscores……K Davies wins. the remains of M Hampton put up a 6 4 0 0 1 8 line. happy days in bravesland.
Why do we care what Hampton is doing? Did anyone really want us to keep him? Does anyone think he will remain healthy?
I’m not sure what being “competitive” means (contending for the playoffs or just not being awful?), but from a business standpoint, the Braves really can’t afford a pure rebuilding year in this economic climate. It will be hard enough to draw even with a good team. (Although I suppose if they shed enough salary–which I’m not sure was possible–they could be profitable even with miserable attendence.) If the Braves are really struggling in July, you might start seeing crowds reminiscent of the 80s.
@ 46,
I disagree that the Braves could have shed enouhg salary to make more money. Atlanta only supports a winner and they couldn’t cut it enough to improve the bottom line.
They COULD cut international scouting and player development for a few years and the fans wouldn’t notice. I would think that would be a a bad move.